Teaching kids how to prevent infections
APPLIED Biotechniques and Community Health is a module offered in Semester 6 of International Medical University (IMU)’s Medical Biotechnology (MB) programme, which includes a community service project.
This year, its MB1/15 students were granted the opportunity to serve the young community (aged between eight and 11 years) at the Talento Daycare Centre, Kuala Lumpur.
The objective of the project was to instil health awareness through the presentation of the microbiological laboratory findings to the community.
During the first visit, samples from soil, drain water, commonly touched areas such as doorknobs, racquets, shoe racks and toys were collected and brought back to IMU for further laboratory analysis.
The presence of pathogenic microbes was determined using both biochemical and molecular biology methods, such as gram staining, oxidase test, coagulase test, catalase test and polymerase chain reaction.
The laboratory findings were presented to the children during the second visit in the form of poster, talk and games.
At the talk, the MB students explained both positive and negative health impacts of microbes and ways to prevent microbial infections.
The audience benefited from the talk and participated actively in the quiz session.
Meanwhile, the games planned by the MB students intrigued the children, and they had an enjoyable and educational session.
Reflecting on this community service, MB student Raja Mohamad Shazimin Raja Muhammad stated, “Working on the community project has allowed me to develop my soft skills, especially in the aspects of time management and communication.
“As a final year undergraduate student, I am usually very busy with assignments and my final year research project. It has taught me to prioritise, especially when it comes to studies, assignments and community project work.
“I tried to create a balance by creating a to-do-list and prioritising the tasks according to their respective deadlines so that I would not miss any of them.”
While Raja has viewed community project as a way of self-development, another MB student, Rupini V. Krishna, reflected how the community project helped in building teamwork among MB1/15 students.
“The community service project has strengthened unity within the class, enhancing teamwork while improving our communicative skills with the children and workers at the daycare centre.
“The project was executed in a Mandarin-speaking daycare centre, so I had fun attempting to speak Mandarin and play with the children.”
To conclude, Sim Serjay reflected, “This community visit was an excellent learning opportunity for us as we were asked to analyse samples that we collected ourselves and present our findings to the public. It allowed us to implement what we have learned in the past semesters and master the art of delivering scientific facts to the community in the simplest and most interesting ways.”
At IMU, the medical biotechnology curriculum is developed to meet international standards and is accepted by its international partner, the University of Newcastle, Australia, for credit transfer into relevant programmes.
Students can also complete the entire degree at IMU.
Graduates of these degrees can undertake postgraduate degrees in any related discipline. Intakes for the programme commence in July and September.
If you have pre-university qualifications and have an interest in medical biotechnology, apply online and join the university in your pursuit of a promising and rewarding career.
Those who have just completed their SPM and do not have pre-university qualifications can consider enrolling in the one-year IMU Foundation in Science (FiS), the preferred foundation and direct route for entry into any of the university’s degree programmes.
You can find out more at IMU’s FiS Info Day on June 9 at its campus in Bukit Jalil.
■ For more information, log on to www.imu.edu.my, e-mail start@ imu.edu.my or call 03-2731 7272.